Senior captain Matt Anderson and the Minutemen hit the road to face New Hampshire and Maine this weekend.

The UMass Minutemen spent last weekend
pushing each other around in the squad’s annual
Maroon & White Scrimmage. This week,
Coach Don “Toot” Cahoon’s charges can’t afford
any rust on their blades, as they prepare
to tangle with two of the league’s more formidable
opponents, based on early season returns.
Tonight, the Minutemen visit Durham, NH,
to take on a Wildcat team that scored two impressive
victories against Colorado College last
weekend. Then, following a travel day to Orono,
UMass faces undefeated Maine.

The Black Bears and the Wildcats combined
for one of the most impressive road weekends
ever for Hockey East, with Maine taking two
games from highly ranked North Dakota, and
New Hampshire winning a pair against Colorado
College. Maine’s feat, fueled by balanced
scoring and airtight defense, propelled the
Black Bears to the top of national polls, where
Coach Tim Whitehead’s crew is sitting on a
perfect 5-0-0 record.

The Wildcats also enter the weekend undefeated
in regular season play, after the twin wins
in Colorado Springs. The only hiccup on UNH’s
schedule was a preseason exhibition loss to
St. Francis Xavier, which seems to have motivated
Coach Dick Umile’s squad. After grabbing
a tight 4-3 win over Colorado College in
their season opener last Friday, the ‘Cats
steamrolled the Tigers the next night, 7-2. That
sweep pushed UNH to No. 8 in the polls.
Tonight’s game is the league opener for UNH
and UMass. Maine’s match Saturday against
UMass will be the league opener for the Bears.

Northeastern and Boston College, meanwhile, are on the road. In a rematch of last year’s
epic NCAA title game, Coach Jerry York’s 5thranked
Eagles will lock horns with defending
national champion Wisconsin for two games in
Madison. Boston College displayed resiliency
last weekend, rebounding from a lopsided loss
to Notre Dame to knock out York’s former team,
Bowling Green, and they’ll need that same tenacity
against the 2nd-ranked Badgers.

Northeastern’s task isn’t any easier, as the
Huskies head to Ann Arbor to take on perennial
powerhouse Michigan. The 6th-ranked
Wolverines are always a threat to put points
on the board, and the Northeastern D will need
to be as stingy as it was last Saturday, when it
whitewashed Union, 5-0, for junior Adam
Geragosian’s (North Andover, MA) second career
shutout.

Closer to home, UMass Lowell is slated to
play Boston University and Providence in a pair
of league tilts. On Friday, BU hosts the River
Hawks, who are coming off their strongest
showing of the young season, a 7-4 win over
Niagara in the Mutual of Omaha Stampede.
Coach Jack Parker’s 4th-ranked Terriers, after
tying Rensselaer in their season opener, have
shown some gumption, taking two tough contests
from Northeastern (4-3) and Merrimack
(4-1). The next night, the River Hawks host
the Providence Friars, who are looking to get
back on the winning track after losses to Bowling
Green and Notre Dame last week. Coach
Tim Army will be looking for more offensive
production, as the Friars only tallied three goals
in the last two games.

Merrimack is also looking for a winning formula, though the Warriors had a solid showing
against the Holy Cross Crusaders on Tuesday,
carrying the play in the last two periods before
bowing, 2-1. On the bright side, freshman Andrew
Braithwaite (Kingston, ON) was strong in
the nets for Coach Mark Dennehy. The 19th-ranked
Vermont Catamounts, coming off two
heartbreaking, one-goal losses to Michigan
Tech, travels to New Hampshire to battle 17thranked
Dartmouth on Sunday.